Earth's Greatest Magus

Chapter 2993: Ranking

The stone door of the inner chamber had not moved in over a year.

When it finally swung open, the sound echoed softly through the corridor beneath Neo Terra Palace.

Emery stepped out.

The first thing he noticed was the air. After so long sealed within the cultivation chamber, even the faint draft drifting through the underground passage felt almost foreign against his skin.

The second thing he noticed was himself.

Something inside him had changed.

He exhaled slowly, and for the first time, he truly understood what had happened.

Somewhere along his path, knots had formed within him—old losses he had never properly grieved, regrets he had buried rather than confronted. They had wrapped themselves around his Dao without his knowledge, quietly constricting it for years.

The ordeal within the abyss had cut them loose.

One knot at a time.

One burden at a time.

When he circulated his spirit energy now, it flowed through his meridians like water finding its natural course. There was no resistance. No hidden turbulence.

The seventh layer of his pagoda manifested effortlessly above his spiritual sea, its radiance steady and flawless.

A quiet certainty settled within him.

The path ahead had never seemed clearer.

With a few more years of meditation and cultivation, he believed he would be ready to step into the eighth layer and enter the realm of a Spirit Champion.

Emery lifted his gaze toward the open sky above his territory.

And for a moment, he let himself remember the dream.

Or perhaps it had not been a dream at all.

A single word surfaced in his mind.

Reincarnation.

Most teachings regarding the afterlife remained shrouded in mystery—a mixture of ancient scripture, faith, speculation, and superstition.

Yet reincarnation itself was not merely a legend.

Throughout the long history of the Magus Universe, there were recorded instances of souls returning through divine intervention, sacred abilities, or powers beyond mortal understanding.

Rare, but real.

The thought lodged itself in him quietly, and he resolved to learn more of it when the time came.

For now, he merely stood beneath the bright sky and looked toward the horizon.

The memories remained.

The longing remained.

But they no longer chained him.

A small smile touched his lips.

"Until we meet again."

The wind carried the words into the endless blue above.

Then he turned.

A presence had been waiting for him.

Morgana.

She stood at the end of the corridor with her arms crossed, studying his face. Through the blood-bond, she had felt every part of the year he had spent drowning — and surviving.

Emery met her gaze.

"I made you worry."

Morgana held his eyes a moment longer, then let out a breath and looked away.

She said nothing.

It was enough.

Footsteps approached from the upper passage.

Klea.

Unlike Morgana, her composure had not cracked once. She inclined her head, the faint tension in her shoulders easing only now that she saw him standing whole.

Emery gave a slight smile.

"Let’s gather everyone."

Klea nodded.

A few hours later, the great hall of Neo Terra Palace was filled with the faction’s key personnel.

Kayelin and Tessa were among them.

The moment news spread that Emery had emerged from seclusion, both had left their duties immediately. Kayelin had traveled from Utopia, while Tessa had come from Centauri City. Neither had bothered hiding their relief upon seeing him alive and standing before them.

Emery took his seat and listened in silence as a full year of the world he had missed was laid before him.

The report began with the aftermath of Baeldum.

As expected, the outbreak had never been confined to Sector 13 alone.

The Scourge’s awakening had been coordinated.

Five sectors across the Alpha Quadrant had been struck within days of one another, each becoming its own battlefield, each descending into chaos before the Alliance fully understood what it was facing.

Of those five sectors, Sector 13 had ultimately emerged with the lightest wounds.

The contamination surrounding Baeldum had been sterilized within three weeks. Entire regions had been quarantined, purified, and gradually reclaimed. Reconstruction efforts were already underway across most of the devastated worlds.

Others had not been nearly so fortunate.

The worst had been Sector 5.

The Scourge there had burned unchecked for almost half a year before the Alliance finally succeeded in containing it.

World after world had fallen.

Entire planetary populations had vanished behind expanding seas of violet corruption.

Several Alliance strongholds had been abandoned outright after relief forces proved unable to break through the infected zones.

By the time the final nest was destroyed, the confirmed death toll had climbed to nearly one billion.

The number hung heavily over the hall.

Even among cultivators accustomed to wars measured in millions of casualties, a billion dead remained difficult to comprehend.

And that figure represented only the survivors’ best estimate.

Without the resistance pills developed during the Baeldum campaign and distributed across the quadrant, Alliance analysts projected that the true cost could have been several times higher.

A heavy silence followed the figures.

Emery could not help but think of the note left behind by his future self. He found himself wondering whether he had truly succeeded in preventing the imminent disaster that was supposed to consume the quadrant, or if this had merely been the beginning of something far greater.

At the very least, his presence had drastically altered the outcome. His involvement in the development of the resistance pills alone had saved countless lives across multiple sectors, changing the course of the war in ways that would have been impossible to measure fully.

Then Klea closed the report and drew out a scroll.

"This arrived three months after the Bealdum disaster," she said.

The scroll was woven from fine golden thread, its surface shimmering faintly beneath the hall’s light. Intricate runic patterns traced its edges, and at its center, written in elegant, flowing script, were the words:

[In Commemoration of Great Achievement]

Even before opening it, Emery could feel the weight behind the title.

It was not merely an award.

It was an official commendation from the Chairman of the Magus Alliance himself—a distinction reserved for those whose actions had altered the course of a major crisis.

Klea glanced down at the document.

"The Earth faction was credited with the second-largest contribution during the entire operation," she said, unable to completely hide the pride in her voice. "Only the Proxima faction ranked higher."

Several people around the table exchanged surprised looks.

That ranking was no small matter.

Dozens of factions, hundreds of organizations, and countless experts had participated in the war against the scourge.

To place second among all of them was enough to elevate the Earth faction’s reputation across the quadrant.

The merits attached to the commendation were equally staggering.

Slightly over one point three million merit points.

For a second-grade faction, it represented over twenty years of meritorious service.

When combined with the standing bounties placed on the Chimera Sovereign and the Midnight Brotherhood, along with the eight years of service merits the Earth faction had already accumulated, the total reached a figure he had never expected to see so soon.

His original five-million-merit debt had been reduced by two million.

Emery stared at the numbers for several seconds before finally letting out a long breath.

"...Not bad."

It was perhaps the greatest understatement he had made all year.

The commendation came with material rewards as well.

One billion spirit stones.

Five thousand palace points.

Additional palace points allocations had been granted to the others.

Emery quickly scanned the distribution list.

Klea: 2200 palace points

Kayelin: 2000 palace points

Morgana: 1800 palace points

Fjolnier: 1000 palace points

Soltz: 400 palace points

A faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Emery quickly understood that the outbreak in Dawnstar, the hidden incident in the mountain, and the refugee relief efforts had all been included in the merits calculations. Considering that Soltz had barely involved himself in any of those matters, it made perfect sense that he had received the fewest points.

It also explained how the Proxima faction had secured the number one ranking. As the largest faction in Sector 13, their massive manpower had been the real engine behind the containment effort. While others had fought on the front lines, countless Proxima personnel had worked tirelessly to evacuate civilians, distribute supplies, enforce quarantines, and maintain order across the sector.

In the end, it was that overwhelming organizational strength that had allowed the outbreak to be brought under control in just three weeks. Without them, the disaster could easily have dragged on for months.

Klea then produced a small sealed box and placed it on the table.

"This is from General Anderson."

Emery’s divine sense swept over it.

Inside rested a dozen artifacts of varying grades, neatly arranged alongside several bundles of rare materials, monster cores, and spirit stones.

He immediately understood what it was.

Group Nine’s shared spoils.

It was a common custom among any temporary form squads.

Anything recovered during a mission was pooled together and divided among the members afterward.

The practice prevented disputes and ensured that everyone who risked their lives received a fair share of the rewards.

Emery examined the contents of the box for a few more seconds with his divine sense and quickly realized there were no truly extraordinary treasures inside.

Most of the loot had come from the infected enemies Group Nine had encountered during the operation. The genuinely valuable artifacts and inheritances belonging to fallen Grand Magus and Three Cosmos experts had most likely already been reclaimed by their respective factions, sects, or families.

Even so, the box still contained an impressive amount of wealth. Between the artifacts, rare materials, spirit ores, and assorted resources, the total value was easily between seven and eight hundred million spirit stones.

Just as Emery was about to close the box, something caught his attention.

Hidden beneath several layers of sealing arrays sat a much smaller container.

Unlike the other items, this one had been isolated from everything else.

A note rested atop it.

Emery picked it up.

[In every sense, I should not be allowed to give this to you. However, Supreme Dunadan has agreed to it. You will understand why once you learn more about it.]

— General Anderson

Emery’s eyes narrowed.

"Interesting."

His divine sense brushed against the sealed container, only to be repelled by several layers of powerful restrictions.

Even so, Emery was shocked the moment he realized what it contained.

It was a core material harvested from Parasite X itself.

Excitement stirred within him.

Emery could not help but wonder whether this material might ultimately prove to be the greatest reward from the entire campaign.

After all, spirit stones could be earned. Merit points could be accumulated. Artifacts could be replaced.

But materials harvested from a creature capable of nearly destroying an entire sector?

For now, however, he resisted the temptation to investigate further.

Emery carefully stored the sealed container away before closing the box and setting it aside, and turned his attention to other matters.